Update from Sally Everton – Director

10th October 2018

Categories: Member News

Visit Devon’s Director, Sally Everton, has been busy driving promotion and encouraging visitors to come to Devon. September is always a strange month with school holidays ending and the weather starting to change, Sally spent her time this month working with various organisations, both domestic and international, to increase visitor numbers throughout the year.

In September, Sally has been working on the following:

Domestic:

Meeting with the new owners of Burgh Island in association with VisitDevon

Hosting VisitBritain’s Business Events team for three days, during this time she showcased Devon venues for MICE and corporate in Exeter, Dartington and Torbay. In the new year, they will return and will cover Plymouth, East and North Devon.

Meeting with Onshore to discuss various projects.

Meeting with GWR’s new regional manager to develop a commercial partnership.

Participating in VisitBritain/GWR’s new campigns and attending various webinars

Dealing with domestic press inquiries.

Showcasing Devon at the Event Organisers Forum in Bristol, which included an enquiry from Barclay’s Bank.

Meetings with ATPs (South Devon), Mid Devon and North Devon as part of a working partnership.

Submitting a profile for IBTM participation for November.

Working with the Devon Wildlife Trust.

Attending the monthly marketing and quarterly board meeting for VisitDevon.

Meeting with the HofSW LEP to discuss tourism.

Speaking to Travel and Tourism/ Catering students at Exeter College about tourism and hospitality and young people coming into the industry.

Dealing with tour operator enquiries, such as Kensington Tours to include Devon in their itineries combined with Stonehenge, Bath etc.

International:

Meeting with various partners for overseas events

Sorting through blogger and journalist requests, mostly from Germany and the US and working on itineraries to suit.

Working on various updates for VisitEngland and VisitBritain

Working on an enquiry to host educational tours for a Brazilian inbound tour operator, Unique Connections.

Collating international visitor stats for Devon for VisitBritain, stats will circulate when complete.

Sorting through enquiries for TravelPulse Canada.

Discussions with Golf Sweden.

Sally has also been working on the DEF Project in which she has been finalising profiles and the selection process for VEMEX attendance, which takes place in New York and Chicago. A similar project has been taking place for Destination Britain North America.

In addition, she has been holding numerous meetings with Cornwall and Somerset developing the DEF project so that it is ready for marketing and the Discover England Fund team about delivering the project in five months.
Sally has also held meetings regarding the Heart of the South West LEP and funding.

There has also been research taking place for events in the US and Australia.

During this month there has also been progress on various partnership opportunities.